Dominica’s MSMEs to participate in ServSafe Food Safety and Training Workshop
As the Government of Dominica focuses on enhancing its hospitality sector and improving opportunities for tourism investment, it is driving initiatives to provide best-practice training for local food service businesses.
From March 21 to 23, 2016, 30 Environmental Health Officers and representatives from Dominica’s Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) will participate in the ServSafe Food Safety and Training Workshop, conducted and funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
“CDB supports the Government of Dominica as it focuses on the importance of food safety and the role it plays in economic development. We are pleased to be collaborating with the Ministry of Health to deliver this workshop, specially designed for local food service professionals through the internationally and regionally recognised ServSafe Food Safety Programme,” said Edward Greene, Division Chief, Technical Cooperation Division, CDB.
The ServSafe Programme is an accredited, United States-based educational course that provides comprehensive training for food service professionals. It is accepted throughout the Caribbean region and recognised as a fundamental certification for food handlers.
During the three-day workshop, participants will explore food safety principles and techniques such as cleaning and sanitation; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points; methods of thawing, cooking, cooling and reheating food; safe food preparation; and time and temperature control.
At the end of the workshop, participants will take the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Examination. Successful participants will receive the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certificate, which is valid for a period of five years.
Participants will also develop action plans to upgrade the food safety practices at their establishments, with the help of certified ServSafe Instructors. The Ministry of Health in Dominica will help participants implement these plans.
The Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services Network (CTCS), managed in the Bank’s Technical Cooperation Division, will oversee the delivery of the workshop.
“CTCS was specifically designed to help CDB fulfil its commitment to enhancing the capacity of MSMEs throughout the Caribbean Region. This workshop is one way in which we continue to turn that commitment into action, to boost the livelihoods of our Region’s entrepreneurs,” said Mr. Greene.
Workshop facilitators are Julie-Ann Laudat of JAL Training and Consultancy Services, a company based in Antigua and Barbuda and Lionel Michael, Chief Health Inspector of the Ministry of Health in Antigua and Barbuda. Both Laudat and Michael are trained and certified ServSafe Instructors and Proctors.
The ServSafe Food Safety and Training Workshop in Dominica follows successful pilots run by CTCS in Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat and Guyana over the past two years.
The workshop, a technical assistance intervention, aligns with CDB’s strategic objective to promote broad-based economic growth by providing support to private sector development, which aims to enhance the viability of MSMEs.
